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NCAAF Picks

College Football Picks: Syracuse vs. NC State

Syracuse is heading out for its first ACC road game, and SBR
has game analysis plus our free college football picks for the Orange's battle against the NC State
Wolfpack.

Four months from now, the Syracuse Orange and North Carolina
State Wolfpack will meet on the hardwood at the Carrier Dome for a basketball
game that is sure to draw more attention and hype than their contest Saturday
on the gridiron. But don't dismiss the
importance of this week's football matchup between the two schools.

Syracuse and North Carolina State collide for their first time ever as
conference foes, and the outcome could very well determine which team has an
opportunity to extend its season with a bowl invite. Kickoff at Carter-Finley Stadium is set for 3:30
PM (ET), and the college football odds have established the Wolfpack as clear home
favorites.

SBR's live college football odds showed the contest opening
with NC State favored by 4.5 to 5 points, but action on the Wolfpack sent that
spread up to a full touchdown. A 54 point
total has remained fairly stagnant all week.

[gameodds]6/246682/?r-1=43-19-349/us[/gameodds]

Both teams enter the tilt off losses and still in search of
their first conference victories. The
Wolfpack underestimated the Demon Deacons last Saturday when Wake Forest
pulled off a 28-13 upset at home as 8-point underdogs. Syracuse,
meanwhile, was hosting its ACC opener and had the misfortune of that coming
against a very good Clemson squad that rolled the Orange, 49-14, to easily cover a 2-TD spread.

Scott Shafer's slow and successful climb up the collegiate
ranks finally saw the longtime assistant get his first head coaching gig for
the Orange as
Doug Marrone's replacement. The Orange came out of the blocks with losses to Penn State
and Northwestern before Shafer got his first wins at the helm vs. overmatched
squads from Wagner and Tulane.

Shafer's first ACC contest against Clemson last week was
over at halftime, leaving the Orange staff with a big job of getting the team
up after being so thoroughly schooled by Tajh Boyd and Company. A big problem for Shafer has been finding a
quarterback who can perform against the big guys. Syracuse
began the season with Drew Allen under center, but after an ugly showing in the
loss to Northwestern, Terrel Hunt took over with solid results in the two wins.

But Hunt took a major step back last week against the No. 3
Tigers, completing just 8-of-24 with three picks. Allen came back in but also threw an
interception; Hunt is expected to start this Saturday, but any hiccups early could
force Shafer to turn back to Allen again.

QB Mitchell Iffy To
Return For Wolfpack

The Wolfpack are also in their first season under a new head
coach, and like Shafer who spent eight seasons as an assistant at Northern
Illinois, Dave Doeren came to Raleigh
after success as a head coach with NIU the past few seasons. Doeren also has quarterback concerns at NC
State, but it's due to an injury in the case of the Wolfpack as opposed to
inconsistent play.

Senior transfer Brandon Mitchell suffered a broken bone in
his left foot in North Carolina
State's season opener
just a few series into the victory over Louisiana Tech, and hasn't seen any
action since. He returned to practice
this week, but remains questionable to play Saturday. The Wolfpack have a bye week after the Syracuse contest, and Doeren hinted he's leaning towards
using that extra time to make sure Mitchell was 100% for the upcoming game vs. Florida State.

Mitchell isn't the only injury that has slowed NC State
early on. Running back Matt Dayes missed
last week's loss at Wake with an ankle injury, and is probable to play against Syracuse. The Wolfpack also have two of their top
receivers, Marquez Valdes-Scantling (hamstring) and Rashard Smith (knee), have
spent the past week or more on the trainer's table; Valdes-Scantling is listed
as probable while Smith is questionable.

Mother Nature &
Final Thoughts

College football handicappers should note that there is rain in the Friday forecast for Raleigh, but it's expected to push out and
leave muggy, cloudy conditions for Saturday's kickoff.. Most of the game should be played around the
68º mark with a 10-14 mph north wind.

There are some combative totals trends for the teams as Syracuse's
last five true road games have skipped past the number while seven of NC
State's last eight home games never reached the scoreboard figure. I'm going to stick with the home team's trend
for my free sports pick and go with the UNDER in a 27-20 Wolfpack win.